Music for Voice and Orchestra (complete)

"This set contains some of Sibelius' best and most unfamiliar work, as well as some pretty utilitarian cantatas and patriotic songs (in multiple versions). Still, at six discs for the price of three, there's more than enough excellent material to justify the outlay, and the performances (many reviewed here individually when originally released) are outstanding. These range from Vänskä's splendid Kullervo Symphony to the exciting cantatas The Captive Queen and Sandels (which share some thematic material with the contemporaneous Second and First Symphonies, respectively), two versions of The Origin of Fire, as well as the early choral arrangement of The Lover, which later became a purely orchestral work. You also get all of the orchestral songs beautifully sung by MariAnne Häggander (who turns in a respectable Luonnotar) and Jorma Hynninen, the slight but fetching opera The Maiden in the Tower, plus both the solo and choral versions of the exciting ballad The Rapid Rider's Brides. In short, this set is just the ticket for those who enjoy Sibelius as an orchestral composer but are looking for some major new discoveries."
(ClassicsToday 10/10 May 2008)

Following up the first two instalments of THE SIBELIUS EDITION, this third volume offers the complete music for voice and orchestra, including orchestral songs, cantatas, melodramas and the composer's one opera - The Maiden in the Tower. Opening the programme is one of Sibelius's greatest works, Kullervo. This is his first work of symphonic proportions, and was a huge success at its première in 1892, only to be withdrawn soon after by the young composer. Here, for the first time, Sibelius entered the mythological realm of Kalevala, Finland's national epos, a world which he would return to on numerous occasions - for instance in works such as Luonnotar, A Song for Lemminkäinen and The Origin of Fire, all included in this collection. Another theme which runs through Sibelius's output was the yearning for national independence, a yearning which was fulfilled in 1917. The Fool's Song of the Spider, Sandels, Have You Courage? and The Captive Queen are only some of the included works with a more or less overt political message. As with the previous instalments, several of the works are given here in more than one version, mirroring the composer's tendency to return to a score even after publication, as well as his willingness, in certain cases, to adapt a work to varying performance conditions. Also included are the composer's earliest surviving attempts at writing for choir and orchestra: two chorales from his student years. Among the recordings, three have not been previously released, and one of these - the 1912 version of Have You Courage? - is a world première. Assembled in chronological order, the remaining recordings have been collected from a number of earlier discs, released to great critical acclaim. To mention but a few, Osmo Vänskä's Kullervo has been described as 'a first-class account, dramatic and powerfully atmospheric' in Gramophone while the performances of the orchestral songs with Jorma Hynninnen and MariAnne Häggander supported by Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra received a Grand Prix du Disque at the time of their original release.

In September 1957 one of the greatest composers of the 20th century passed away: Jean Sibelius.

50 years later BIS Records launches its complete recorded edition of all the music he ever wrote: from the symphonies and tone poems to chamber works and songs - THE SIBELIUS EDITION.

The first two volumes, 'Tone Poems' and 'Chamber Music I', were officially released on 7 September 2007, at the International Sibelius Festival in Lahti, Finland. Subsequent instalments will be released at regular intervals until the appearance of the final two volumes 'Symphonies' and 'Miscellaneous Works', planned for the spring of 2010.

The aim to present a Sibelius edition has been a driving force for BIS Records since the founding of the label in 1973. We have released more than seventy individual titles devoted to Sibelius's music, and indeed a number of works - notably the symphonies - have been re-recorded over the years, and appear in parallel versions in the BIS catalogue.

These recordings have been greeted with the highest acclaim, and have often been perceived as greatly contributing to a deeper understanding of the music of the Finnish master. Indeed, the Sibelius catalogue on BIS has become a goldmine for music-lovers as well as for musicologists, not least because of the insightful texts which have accompanied the discs, written by Sibelius expert Andrew Barnett.